Our team of bridging specialists are here to help.
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It’s been just over a year since we launched into the market, on a mission to make it easier for Aussie homeowners to secure their dream home. While bridging loans have been around for a while, we knew the process and products weren’t up to scratch for modern buyers.
So, we designed a tech-led bridge loan product that’s built for today. You might first remember us as TechLend before our rebrand to Bridgit in February 2022. While our name has changed, our focus has remained the same: to help homeowners secure their next home before they sell.
In just over 12 months, Bridgit has seen exponential rates of growth. It started with hiring our first employee back in March 2021 and continued with our second hire in July 2021. Now, Bridgit has grown to a team of nearly 20, and we’re just getting started.
Want to learn more about what we’ve been up to? Discover Bridgit’s highlights, wins and learnings from our first year in business and how we’re revolutionising access to bridging loans for Australian homeowners.
At Bridgit, we’ve spent the past 12+ months reimagining the way bridge loans and bridging finance work for Aussie homeowners. Our goal is to empower Australians to tap into the value of their first property to further their next dream home, even if they haven’t sold yet.
Up until we launched Bridgit, the property finance industry was lagging behind when it came to bridging loans, and customers were paying the price. So, we built a disruptive bridge loan product that helps customers progress in their life.
Let’s run you through our milestones and wins from our first year in business.
At Bridgit, we build all of our own tech from scratch. Over the past year, we’ve launched our custom-built CRM, designed to offer a smoother, swifter bridging loan experience for our customers.
Not only does our CRM allow us to act fast, but it lightens the load for our team (meaning our bridging loan experts can focus on what really matters - helping our customers).
With our own tech in place, we launched our game-changing one-hour approval bridging product into the market. Rather than assessing applications with spreadsheets and mountains of paperwork, we use credit and risk modelling and digital identity verification for an easy online application process and speedy same-day (even same-hour) loan approval.
Plus, we’ve created custom-built broker and customer portals to make it easy for applicants to track the status of their bridging loan. Our seamless, online application process means homeowners can jump on the best opportunities and never get slowed down by tedious paperwork or lengthy questionnaires.
Earlier this year, we relaunched into the market, rebranding from TechLend to Bridgit in February 2022. To celebrate this milestone, we launched our first brand campaign as Bridgit (complete with a TV advertisement and radio ad placements), along with a brand new website.
Bridgit has secured plenty of coverage across a range of media outlets over the past 12 months. Our Co-Founder and CEO Aaron Bassin has been called on for expert commentary in The Australian and SmartCompany. You might have even seen Aaron appear on Ausbiz’s Startup Daily show or on The Property Experience Podcast. Plus, Bridgit’s recent funding announcements have been covered in the AFR and Australian Broker.
The property industry is taking notice of us, too. In fact, Bridgit was named a Finalist for Emerging Fintech Organisation of the Year while Aaron was a Finalist for Emerging Fintech Leader of the Year at the 2022 Finnies (hosted by FinTech Australia) and REB’s Innovator of the Year.
We’re also committed to giving back at Bridgit. We’ve partnered with ecologi and have helped to plant over 6,900 real trees (equating to 96.65 tonnes of CO2 offset).
As you can see, it’s been a huge year for Bridgit. Our business traction so far speaks for itself in securing almost $13 million in equity!
Not only have we partnered with some of Australia’s biggest broker groups, but we’ve expanded our team from one to nearly 25 employees. Along the way, we’ve moved offices multiple times and are now working from Sydney’s startup hub in the heart of the city.
Building a business or startup is a massive undertaking, and we’ve learned so much over the past 12+ months. Here are three of our biggest learnings and insights from our first year in business.
As a startup in our first year of operation, we didn’t build our company to make money. Of course, there’s always a need for revenue: without it, we don’t exist. But that’s not what drove us.
We wanted to make a positive difference in our customers’ lives. We wanted to make an impact and create value in our solution.
There’s no doubt that Bridgit’s growth in the past year has been rapid. However, a valuable lesson we learned is that you can’t grow before you learn, and we learn through listening.
Listening to our team, our board, our partners, and most importantly, our customers. Listening, understanding, and learning are what drive and define us here at Bridgit.
As a startup, we have learned that people and culture are at the heart of everything we do. For employees, this is about being a part of a team, feeling empowered in their roles, and having the confidence to succeed.
This framework of employee satisfaction feeds directly into the external stakeholder side of the business: happy employees translate into happy customers through higher levels of customer service. It’s a self-fulfilling cycle.
After an incredible first year in business, we’re working harder than ever to make our next year even bigger and better. Learn more about how our market-leading bridging loan works.
In this article, we’ll explore the nine key benefits of adopting a “buy first” strategy, offering insights into why this approach could be the smartest choice for Aussie homeowners in the Australian real estate market.
Retirement is a time to embrace new opportunities, and for many, it’s the perfect stage to make a change in their living arrangements. Whether you’re downsizing, relocating closer to family, or finding a home better suited to your lifestyle, leveraging the equity in your home can make it all possible.
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This month, Colin Bentley, Head of Lending at Bridgit, takes us through why bridging is often misunderstood, and shares strategies to help you confidently present it as a valuable solution for your clients.
